Care Fit for VIPS

Care Fit for VIPS is a free, online toolkit to help care homes improve the quality of their dementia care. If you have a part in running a care home, domiciliary care service or day centre where there are people with dementia, Care Fit for VIPS is for you.

Background information

The work was commissioned and funded by the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority as part of their programme to reduce the use of anti-psychotic medication in dementia. The Care Fit for VIPS toolkit and website is currently run and managed by:

P = Perspective of service user – Understands care from the perspective of the person with dementia

S = Supportive social psychology – Social environment enables the person to remain in relationship

The guiding principles behind VIPS are:

Do my actions show that I respect, value and honour this person?

Am I treating this person as a unique individual?

Am I making a serious attempt to see my actions from the perspective of the person I am trying to help? How might my actions be interpreted by them?

Do my actions help this person to feel socially confident and that they are not alone?

The Care Fit for VIPS toolkit

The original toolkit was designed with care homes in mind, but two further versions have been developed around domiciliary care and day centres. All versions of the toolkit follow the same format and consist of three main parts:

The toolkit is easy to use and easy to navigate, making it practical and attractive to users. It is also completely free to access and use. If you would like help using the toolkit, dedicated education, or assistance from ADS to complete the toolkit and provide advice on prioritising changes, please contact us to find out more about our services. You may also be interested in the short video below which tells you a bit more about the Care Fit for VIPS toolkit.

The VIPS framework and concepts used by the toolkit also underpin many of the training and education programmes offered by ADS, meaning that the Care Fit for VIPS toolkit can be used in tandem with the courses to complement and reinforce some of the learning points.

In addition, the VIPS framework underpins the set of reflective questions in the resource pack which accompanies the Stand By Me training DVD, produced in partnership with ADS. The Care Fit for VIPS toolkit can therefore provide a useful means of support for managers and staff when undertaking further training using Stand By Me.

Future potential

Although it was originally designed with care homes in mind, the concept and format of the toolkit could readily be adapted to meet the needs of a range of environments or organisations, as has already been done for domiciliary care services and day centres. We are always interested in hearing your views on how the toolkit could be taken forwards, and are actively seeking further funding to develop this useful and important resource in the future.